Consultation.


The Forestry Place masterplan has been developed and has evolved and been developed since 2020 with extensive key stakeholders and forestry
interest groups, the broader community, ACT government agency and National Capital Authority engagement
July 2020

Preliminary meetings were held with key stakeholders including:

  • ACT Government transport, planning, heritage and sport& recreation agencies
  • CSIRO
  • Friends of ACT Trees
  • Inner South CanberraCommunity Council
  • Institute of Foresters
  • Royal Canberra Golf Club
  • Westridge House
  • Yarralumla Residents Association
  • * The Inner South Canberra Business Council and Inner South See Change were invited but did not attend.
August-September 2020

Four key stakeholder ‘co-design’ workshops were conducted to inform the draft master plan:

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Workshop 1 - Inform.

Introduction to the project, site analysis for opportunities and constraints and discussion of possible future uses. We had several separate stakeholder site visits to better understand the context.
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Workshop 2 - Collaborate.

Collaboration with stakeholders to explore the relative merits of future uses in relation to their practicality and viability.
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Workshop 3 - Consult.

Presentation of a draft master plan to work through various aspects of the proposal.
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Workshop 4 - Present.

Test and further refine the draft master plan and to gather feedback.
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Roundtable discussions were undertaken to address the needs of immediate neighbours and other key stakeholders on specific aspects of the draft master plan
November 2020


Feedback was sought on the draft master plan from the broader Yarralumla and surrounding communities. The community were invited to open house drop-in sessions over two days to be briefed on the proposed design, discuss aspects of interest to them and provide their feedback including a questionnaire. An online forum was offered to those who could not attend in person.

Broader Community Feedback

Overall, there was support for the proposal as presented, with many consultation participants wanting to immediately register for aged care or to purchase apartments. They were particularly encouraged by the capacity to age in place moving from residential to assisted living to aged care accommodation. Participants also appreciated the respect shown to the heritage buildings and the important treescape, and a plan for their ongoing maintenance and management. Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings for a boutique hotel and possible community uses, were also welcomed. 

The impact of population increases from the combined Forestry Place and Brickworks developments on traffic congestion, parking at the Yarralumla shops, and the quality of life for existing residents were the principal concerns. These concerns informed commentary on density and future uses. 

Some attendees commented that a residential use for the site was preferable to other uses where traffic generation would be more significant.  

The benefits of building height allowing additional open space was discussed, with a general understanding amongst attendees that the master plan provided a significant amount of open space on the site (60%) and significant tree retention by reducing building footprints and increased building heights of up to 5 stories.

Timeline

Freeman house photo

APRIL 2021

An application to amend the National Capital Plan was lodged with the National Capital Authority.

*

NOVEMBER 2021

The NCA Board was supportive of residential, hospitality and community facility land use, however were not supportive of the proposed height of up to 5 storeys, but indicated willingness to consider a development proposal in which building heights are no greater that 3 storeys (plus attic) and sought to limit the extent of commercial uses on the site.

February - March 2022

A revised master plan was taken to key stakeholder consultation that accommodated the NCA’s requirements that was compliant with the requested 3 storey plus attic height control.

Most representative groups were generally content with the revised masterplan that continued to address their stakeholder needs while accommodating the NCA requirements.  They had questions relating to their specific interests as the project progresses to more detailed stages.

However, some of the community representatives for the Yarralumla Residents Association oppose the fact that the density has not been reduced, which in their view, will have implications for traffic, parking and quality of life.

*

May 2022 - February 2023

To progress the planning approval process for future redevelopment of Forestry Place, GUNYAR Pty Limited sought approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as the proposal was determined a controlled action under the EPBC Act by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

*

April 2023

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water granted approval to Gunyar Pty Ltd to proceed with the Forestry Place proposal.

*

NOVEMBER 2023

The National Capital Authority (NCA) agrees to release Draft Amendment 97 to the National Capital Plan, Block 7 Section 4 Yarralumla for public consultation from Saturday 11 November 2023 until Friday 22 December 2023.

Resources

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April 2018 ERM Heritage Management Plan (PDF - 6.9 MB)
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Revised Master Plan (PDF - 4.2 MB)
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Yarralumla Town Planning (PDF - 1.3MB)

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